Defeated National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament for the Jirapa constituency of the Upper West Region, Francis Bawaana Dakurah says the parliamentary election for the Jirapa constituency is not free and fair.
He has therefore called on the chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC) not to accept the polls.
According to Dr. Bawaana the whole process was flawed and could not have produced a credible outcome.
He alleged that in some of the polling stations, Electoral Officers virtually doubled as polling agents for a particular candidate who he failed to mention his name.
He said he made a complaint to the District Electoral Officer during voting but nothing was done about it.
“I also made it clear that though I was going to ask for a recount of total votes cast by an independent adjudicator. It was important for the Electoral Officer to record my verbal complaint as initial challenge to the whole process as it was obvious that the process was seriously flawed,’’ he added.
Dr. Bawaana further stated that he met the District Electoral Officer and the two Returning Officers for the constituency where he catalogued litany of irregularities in the voting process.
He posited that in some of the polling stations there were no security personnel and their polling stations agents were intimidated by supporters of a particular candidate.
Despite these serious observations and complaint, he stated nothing was done by the District Electoral Officer and his two returning officers and was surprised while voting was late and still going on at certain polling stations, results were openly declared at some polling stations, creating a psychological atmosphere to subtly influence some voters who were still in queue to cast their votes.
He pleaded to the chairman of the EC, Dr. Afari Gyan to annul the declaration by the Returning Officer until a thorough investigation is carried out and a possible re-run is held at those polling stations.
Meanwhile, the Jirapa district Electoral Officer, Jackson Annor in an interview with Joy News expressed surprise about the allegation being leveled against him and his outfit.
‘‘None of his polling agents raised a finger about the way the polls were conducted in the constituency. Voting was done peacefully and there was no call for a recount at any of the polling stations. He is the only one complaining about the way the polls were conducted and he hasn’t gotten a case,’’ he concluded.
President Mahama polled 20,603 votes as against 3375 by the NPP’s Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo in the presidential race but the parliamentary results were different as an Independent candidate, Paul Derugubaa beat Dr. Francis Bawaana by a little over 1700 votes.